Yeagley rolled his window down to say hello, and to chuckle about the heads Muse’s son, Trey, was turning.

A freshman goalkeeper behind veteran defenders, Trey Muse played without fear. He commanded his area. He communicated well. He stopped shots like a pro and helped build an undefeated season — one that continues Friday in Philadelphia in the national semifinals against North Carolina. He was a pleasant surprise to everyone — except those who expected it all along.

“Me and coach Yeagley, we laugh when we see each other,” Dave Muse said. “I said, ‘Well it’s what I expected, what you expected.’ He said, ‘I know, but he’s breaking IU records.’”

Trey Muse was destined to be a goalkeeper.

He started soccer young, the son of a college keeper (Dave Muse played the position at Kentucky).

“At 7, I think I moved him into competitive soccer, and from there, he was about a year behind everyone else, and I wasn’t panicking, because he was very athletic,” Dave Muse said. “It was just a matter of time until we moved him to keeper.”

Growing up in Louisville, Trey Muse entered the youth setup of Derby City Rovers.

Nathan Pitcock, Derby City’s technical director, connected Trey with id2, a national youth development program. That took Trey to Europe to face youth sides from prominent clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Dave Muse also secured him a 10-day trial at Vitesse Arnhem, a top-division club in Holland. Thrust into an environment where teenagers develop knowing they must turn professional at 18 years old, regardless, Trey didn’t flinch.

“These kids, that was their whole life,” Dave Muse said. “He knew what the environment would be like, so he didn’t have a real hard time fitting in.”

By that point, Trey’s family knew he’d need to find a permanent place in a youth setup to continue his development.

Seattle Sounders, one of Major League Soccer’s most successful clubs, had already scouted the 6-4 keeper. It was a long way from home, but it was what the family was looking for — a professional program that could nurture Trey’s potential.

In Seattle, Trey kept playing older than his age. It taught him how to speak up, no matter the quality of his teammates.

Communication can be as important for a goalkeeper as shot-stopping ability. As the player with the widest view of the field, a keeper must organize his defense, spot problems as they develop and know when to come for the ball or leave it for a defender.

During his stay in Seattle, Trey played with Seattle’s reserve team in the United Soccer League (USL). He appeared for the U.S. at the under-18 level in tournaments in Slovakia and Portugal. He appeared regularly for Sounders’ academy team.

When he reached 18, he also reached a crossroads. Seattle wanted to keep Trey involved, but wasn’t sure if it was ready to hand him a full-time contract.

“We kind of all came to the agreement that it was probably best for him to go off to college,” Dave Muse said.

That was last spring, late in the recruiting cycle. There wasn’t much time, and given Trey’s skill level, there weren’t many college programs that could offer him the kind of competitive environment that would sharpen him.

Dave Muse knew Indiana. Playing at Kentucky, he was familiar with the Hoosiers’ storied history. He remembered IU coaches offering time and help when Kentucky was still getting its program going. He remembered the one win his Wildcats lodged over the Hoosiers, in his junior season.

The only official visit Trey took was to Bloomington.

“We had some changes in our needs,” Yeagley said this week. “He had a change in what he wanted to do from a soccer standpoint, and it met together late in the process.”

A starter in all 23 games so far this season, Trey Muse has allowed just six goals, saving more than 90 percent of the shots that have come his way. He’s posted 17 shutouts in that stretch and helped the Hoosiers produce a 966-minute goal-less streak, the the fourth-longest in NCAA history.

“Since day one, Trey’s left a really good impression on the team,” senior defender Grant Lillard said.

All that built to last Friday, when the Hoosiers went to penalties against Michigan State.

Muse had been withdrawn for backup Sean Caulfield in the Big Ten tournament final shootout, which Indiana lost to Wisconsin. This time, Yeagley stayed with his No. 1.

“I just understood my role as a player and trusted the coaches’ decision,” Muse said of the Wisconsin game. “The game against Michigan State, they said, ‘We’re gonna keep you in.’”

Indiana stands two wins away from its ninth national championship, and faces fellow powerhouse North Carolina on Friday night in Philadelphia, for a berth in the final.

The Hoosiers will rely on another prolific freshman, Mason Toye, up top, on their experienced midfield, and on that sturdy, veteran backline. And they’ll lean on the freshman goalkeeper who never played like one, who surprised everyone except those who knew better.